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Angel Island Zone (Sonic Mania)
Angel Island Zone is the first Zone in the Encore Mode of Sonic Mania Plus. This Zone is a re-imagined version of the original Angel Island Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for the Sega Mega Drive. This Zone is not playable in Mania Mode under normal circumstances, though it is visited in a cutscene at the beginning of Mania Mode. It is also only playable one time on any save file. Overview Like the original Zone, Angel Island Zone is a thick, tropical jungle with palm trees, breakable rocks, swinging vines and plenty of foliage as far as the eye can see. This time around, there are now Animals populating the jungle in a carefree manner, though there are the odd bunch of Badniks that Sonic must destroy. Story Encore Mode After having defeated Dr. Eggman in another dimension, Sonic the Hedgehog is returned to this Zone, where he notices that the Phantom Ruby has also returned with him. Seeing it float away, Sonic follows it through the jungle. Eventually, Sonic finds a capsule containing Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. After Sonic frees the pair and chooses his partner, the Heavy Magician reveals herself to be the other character. She flies away with the Phantom Ruby, with Sonic and his partner giving chase. They soon find the discarded remains of the Phantom Heavies. The Heavy Magician gives the Phantom Ruby to the Phantom King, who awakens and teleports everyone to Green Hill Zone. Gameplay This Zone is much shorter than it was in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and has only one Act. Gimmicks here include Vines and other standard gimmicks, like Springs. There are also a few surfaces that crumble when stepping on them and underwater sections one can drown in. Description The first part of Angel Island Zone is much like the first Act of the original Zone. As soon as Sonic reaches the open clearing where the Flame Craft originally appeared, he will find a capsule based on the Combi Catcher containing MIghty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. When the capsule is destroyed, the Act ends. After the results tally, the player must choose which character they would like to partner with. The character the player does not choose will be revealed to be the Heavy Magician in disguise, who will then swipe the Phantom Ruby and escape with it. Afterward, the player regains control of Sonic and their new partner, and must use their partner's abilities to overcome an obstacle and chase after Heavy Magician. If the player chose Mighty, they must use his Hammer Drop to break the rocks in the ground and take a lower route; if they chose Ray, they must use his Air Glide to climb a ledge that is too high for Sonic to reach and take a higher route. Both routes lead to the broken-down Hard Boiled Heavies, which will initiate a cutscene leading into the Green Hill Zone. Trivia *Angel Island Zone features several references and Easter eggs: **The capsule Mighty and Ray are trapped inside resemble the Combi Catcher from Isolated Island and Newtrogic High Zone in Knuckles' Chaotix. **The music that plays when choosing a partner is a remix of "Run Run Run!," the theme song for Volcanic Vault in SegaSonic the Hedgehog. **The "High Five" that plays when the player's partner has been selected is a reference to the same act that appears when receiving a partner in Isolated Island and Newtrogic High Zone in Knuckles' Chaotix. *The Sweep Badnik that appears in this level was actually discovered in the files for Sonic Mania as unused content before its official appearance. *In the game's files, there is a corrupted file for an Act 2 of Angel Island Zone. *This Zone and Lava Reef Zone are the only Zones in the game where Dr. Eggman does not appear. *This version of Angel Island Zone has the same level number it had in both Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles. Music Gallery SonicManiaPlusScreenshots1.jpg SMPJP1.jpg Sonicmaniaplusvdr4.png TheChoiceIsYours.png TheBOIZ.png Sonicmaniaplusvdr1.png AngelIslandWarp.png References Category:Sonic the Hedgehog Category:Video game levels Category:Video game locations Category:Fictional regions Category:Fictional elements introduced in 2018